Russianian colonisation of Kerwan
The Russianian colonisation of Kerwan was a long process that lasted over a century until the whole of Kerwan became an official colony of the Russianian Empire. The process began around the mid-BNE 300s, when in 352 BNE the first Russianians landed on the southern coast of the Kernian kingdom of Murdo (Kernian: Murchadh). The colonisation involved the plantation of the southern coast, then the central plain, followed by further land-grabs to the north by colonists and their militias, until a united force of the five Kernian kingdoms was defeated by the Royal Army after during the Russianian military conquest of Kerwan. Pre-colonised Kernia At the time of the Russianian colonisation, Kernia was an extremely disjointed and disunited region. The five kingdoms were locked in a viscious circle of dispute and open warfare. From 372 BNE, each kingdom had a seperate king for the first time in nearly 200 years. Experts now predict that had the Russianians arrived less than 70 years earlier, when Kernia was united under the rule of Patrick II, colonisation would never have taken place. Indeed, it is now argued that the reason the Russianians were so easily able to conquer Kernia was due to the fact the kingdoms were more interested in fighting amongst themselves than fighting the Russianian invaders. Early plantation The Russianian Empire was in its very early days, and King George VI sent out scouts for the sole purpose of finding regions to start new colonies. On 15 March 352 BNE, the Russianian ship Old Glory, a flagship of the Royal Navy, arrived in the bay of the area now known as Port Calder. The land around the bay was fertile and flat, combined with heavy wooded areas to the north. Sailing further along the coast, they noted the perfect conditions for plantation, which, combined with the infighting of the natives and the remarkable closeness to Russianiaq, was a perfect area to colonise. The first shiploads of planters arrived in Port Calder with the blessing of the Royal government in the spring of 351 BNE. The Murdo government seemed remarkably unconcerned as these new, Protestant colonists made home. The south coast was almost completely uninhabited, and bore no strategic advantage for Murdo, and so the colonies that began to spring up around the southern coast were largely ignored, even welcomed. Trade with the colonists actually benefitted the Kernians, who made a profit, while at the same time the Russianians continued to make deeper and deeper inroads into Kerwan. The first attempts to limit the plantation of the South came in early 350 BNE, the first time things between the Kernians and the Russianians had turned hostile. Murdo, engaged in bitter fighting on its northern borders with the kingdom of Geady, send out envoys to the planters requesting they stop encroaching further onto Murdo territory. These warnings were ignored, and by the summer, by which time an estimated 25,000 colonists were residing on the southern coast, Murdo sent out a reserve army force demanding a retreat of Russianian settlements. The encouter turned violent, with 7 Kernians losing their lives. Murdo, unable to spare troops from the fighting in the north, stood idly by and watched as Russianian territory began to expand north and east-wards, into areas inhabitted by native Kernians. The winter of 350/49 BNE saw the first major attempt at driving back the colonists in the First